Scholarly Identity: A Guide

Your scholarly identity is what you want people—fellow researchers, students, or potential employers—to find when they search for you online. This may include your:

• Presentations and publications
• Fellowships and grants
• Courses taught
• Research interests

It is essentially your online curriculum vitae or resume. It’s up to you whether or not you manage this identity, but regardless of whether you manage it, it exists.

Creating an online scholarly identity can:

1. Demonstrate your authority, expertise, skills, and research interests when going up for promotion or tenure, recruiting students or other academics, looking to impact society on a wider scale, and correlating social media shares and citations.

2. Ensure people find biographical and contact information you have authorized. Remember, if you don’t manage your online presence, you are allowing search engines to create it for you.

3. Help you to connect with other researchers in your field to enhance the visibility of your work and expand your co-authorship base.